Tales of Misfortune by Colby T. Helms is a country/blues/folk album recently released in
January of this year. I had long awaited the release of this album because of the single, Higher
Ground. There really isn’t much information on this album yet because of how new it is and
how small Colby is. All I know is that I HATE 99% of new country music, so when I
surprisingly enjoyed the single I knew Helms was cooking something up. The second single,
Daddy’s Pocket Knife also happened to be pretty good. This man has encompassed true soul
and authenticity in his debut. He sings about real, true things that everyone can relate to. He
sings about just wanting a simple life and true love and excruciating loss. There’s no funky
autotune or rap. It’s just true, authentic country music.
Among the information I could find on Helms, I see he was raised in a home built
underground home by his father in West Virginia. At 12 his daddy passed away from cancer and he
turned to music to cope. This is where I believe the song Daddy’s Pocket Knife sprouted from.
Such a touching and well-orchestrated song. In each and every one of these tracks you can hear a
soulful banjo filling in all the empty background and an acoustic chiming in too, possibly a
couple. The vocals are incredibly charming too. His accent is so unique and melds perfectly with
this sort of music. During the whole album, I don’t think I heard a single electronic instrument.
This album has to be my favorite release of this year so far, and some of the only new
music with true passion behind it. It reminds me somewhat of other relatively new artists, Billy
Strings and Tyler Childers. I love this album personally and I would probably rate it a 7.9/10.
Would definitely recommend this to dang there anyone.